On pins and needles: 如坐針氈,坐立不安。Anxious and tense; to be nervously waiting to find out what is going to happen

Examples:

1) I’ve been on pins and needles all day, waiting for the doctor’s test results.

1) With the merger, we’re all on pins and needles because we don’t know who will be laid off (資遣).

People lining up for face masks in Nan-ning, Guang-xi.

(Washington Post, 2020/01/31)

President Donald Trump regaled a friendly New Jersey campaign crowd with his thoughts about impeachment, the economy, the border wall, local politics and much more.

But he was conspicuously quiet Tuesday about one big issue keeping much of the globe on pins and needles: the spread of a deadly new type of coronavirus. It has killed more than 210 people in China, sickened thousands more there and led to a handful of confirmed cases in the U.S., including the first U.S. case of person-to-person transmission reported Thursday by health officials.

川普總統週日暢談他對於國會彈劾他,美國經濟,美墨邊界高牆,當地政治以及其他許多議題的看法,讓他的紐澤西支持者大樂,但是他對於一項讓全球坐立難安的議題卻明顯保持緘默,那就是致命新型肺炎的蔓延。這個疾病已經在中國造成逾210人死亡,數千人染病,並且美國也出現了五個確診病例,包括衛生當局星期四報告的第一起人傳人案例。

(CNN, 2019/6/6)

Missourians wait on pins and needles‘ to see if legal abortions will vanish from their state

密蘇里居民如坐針氈般等著看,合法墮胎是否會消失

Drama unfolding in America’s heartland could have a ripple effect across the country as Missouri could become the first state in the country with no abortion clinics.

這起正在美國心臟地區發展的案件,可能如漣漪般擴及整個國家,密蘇里也可能成為第一個境內沒有墮胎診所的州。

Sound(中文解說) : ICRT podcast

Photos: aljazeera, washington post